Paulerspury is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

and small village in

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is approximately south of

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the olde ...

and north of Milton Keynes along the

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa * A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Francistown ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or B ...

(which follows the course of the Roman Road of

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

). The parish also contains the hamlets or villages of

Pury End Pury End is a hamlet of approximately 100 houses in the civil parish of Paulerspury, near Towcester in West Northamptonshire, England. The Grafton Way footpath crosses through the village and runs down Carey's Road. The population of the parish ...

, Pury Hill and Heathencote; at the time of the 2001 census, its population was 991 people. The 2011 population was 1,018.

History

The villages name was originally, simply '

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

-tree' with the later incorporation of the de Pavelli family name. The village is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 as ''Paveli's Peri'' – a reference to orchards in the area and the lord of the manor Paveli. It was the birthplace in 1761 of William Carey, son of a weaver, who first established the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

mission in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In the 1800s, the place was known as Pauler's Perry. Paulerspury has known significant historical events. Although the site of the final battle of

Queen Boudicca Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh language, Welsh as ()), was a queen of the Celtic Britons, ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a Boudican Rebellion, failed uprising against the Roman Bri ...

is not confirmed, one of the three locations believed most likely is Cuttle Mill in Paulerspury. During Elizabethan times, the lords of the manor, the Throckmortons became prominent nobles, and local legend has it that the Queen and her favourite Sir Walter Raleigh stayed in the village (which led to the marriage of Bess Throckmorton to Sir Walter). The restored church has a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

font and displays good Early English work. The effigies of

Sir Arthur Throckmorton Sir Arthur Throckmorton (ca. 1557 – 21 July 1626) was an English courtier and politician. He was the second son of the diplomat Sir Nicholas Throckmorton of Beddington, Surrey and was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford. His sister Elizabe ...

(1626) and his lady lie on a long tomb. There are also two rare wooden figures, representing Sir Laurence de Paveley (1329) and his wife. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, little industry developed in the area, it mostly being an agricultural community, and the main produce other than agriculture was

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

. It has been claimed that Queen Victoria favoured Paulespury lace. This led to an impoverished community as lacemaking was superseded by mass-produced textiles. This is in stark contrast to the village of today, which is a wealthy commuter village for Milton Keynes and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Governance

The village has an elected Parish Council. It is in

South Northamptonshire South Northamptonshire was, from 1974 to 2021, a district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority District Council in ...

parliamentary constituency.

Amenities

Paulerspury has a Church of England primary school, and the Barley Mow

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. It is the home of the Grafton Hunt and the headquarters of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts' Club.

Notable residents

Edward Bernard Edward Bernard (1638 – 12 January 1697) was an English scholar and Savilian professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford, from 1673 to 1691. Life He was born at Paulerspury, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' Schoo ...

(1638–1697), English scholar,

Savilian professor of astronomy The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Sir Henry Savile, a mathematician and classical scholar who was ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

from 1673 to 1691, was born in the village. * Sir Benjamin Bathurst (1639 – 1704), British politician, Governor of the

East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...

and

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

companies and a Cofferer of the Royal Household; former lord of the manor. * William Carey (1761-1834), English missionary to India

References

External links

Paulerspury parish website

Interesting information at waymarking.com
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire